Q: Are you looking for *a* program with a critical theory focus and happened to land on a philosophy department, or are you looking for a *philosophy* program with a critical theory focus and happened to land on Penn State?
The former. In my list of top choice schools I already have MPL, Duke Lit, New School for Public Research, etc. I hadn't heard of Penn's Philosophy program before, but I know that most phil programs in the States are heavily analytic.
Most phil programs in the U.S. are indeed heavily analytic, but there's a strong contingent of continental programs as well. It might be good for you to look into these, depending on exactly what (and how) it is you want to do. There's not a whole lot of central resources for looking up such programs (unlike the PGR and analytic programs, for example*) but checking out this list might be a start.
* It might be worth looking at the PGR's area listings for 20th C continental, though it's a little weird w/r/t which programs are or are not included there. E.g., NYU is not really a good place to be a grad student doing 20thC continental philosophy, and some departments (e.g. Depaul, Memphis, etc) are left out.
P.S. To answer your original question, Penn State is pretty well-regarded as a U.S. "continental" department. It's also worth noting that applications to philosophy PhD programs are extremely competitive, so it might be worth considering some MA programs as well if you're not certain you'd be a really competitive applicant. (The SPEP list I linked includes standalone MA programs as well).
Comments 6
Reply
Reply
* It might be worth looking at the PGR's area listings for 20th C continental, though it's a little weird w/r/t which programs are or are not included there. E.g., NYU is not really a good place to be a grad student doing 20thC continental philosophy, and some departments (e.g. Depaul, Memphis, etc) are left out.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment